SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Final results showed 74.1% of voters said no in a referendum initiated by Ecopop, a group describing themselves as leftist ecologists, who claimed the country was being “buried under concrete” owing to the growing influx of foreigners.

The 5 million people eligible to vote also gave cold shoulder to two further proposals, one to force the central bank to increase its gold reserves and another to scrap a flat tax for rich expatriates.